m
Zine 01: The Black Lives Matter Issue
We are in a time of intense racial injustice that happens to be in the midst of a worldwide pandemic; that being said, stress levels are high everywhere in America. With the micro-focused national media attention that the Black Lives Matter movement has received during this uncertain time, I felt that it was important to take a step back and bring this conversation down to a personal level. No matter your race, this conversation includes you and it is your job to make a change. We at Mirage were moved to share the stories of our Black and brown peers, particularly here in West Virginia, that have been scrutinized for the color of their skin their entire lives. This is why we got together to create our first zine – a mini version of our standard issue focused on one topic – sharing the voices of the Black and brown folks around us. We’ll learn what theatre looks like for two Black West Virginian actresses, view a stunning Black Lives Matter-inspired photo series from one of our favorite photographers and Mirage native, get a history lesson on the
important movements that have shaped the world we live in today and hear the personal stories of people of color growing up in West Virginia. As a white woman growing up in southwestern Pennsylvania, I didn’t have the same struggles as my Black peers, but I’ve witnessed the discrimination. I will never forget the first time I saw it when my best friend was told, whilst walking down the high school hallway, to be deported simply because she is brown. While I will never know that pain of feeling like I don’t belong because of the color of my skin, I hope to uplift the voices in my community to ensure that future generations do not live with these injustices. It is time to stop what you are doing and listen; just simply listen to the people who deserve a space to share their stories. Welcome to the Black Lives Matter issue of Mirage Magazine. - Kasey Lettrich, President of Mirage
self-portrait with flowers in my mouth written by RaJon Staunton
flushed orchid petals force themselves up from my lungs at night, purge themselves in clusters explode into the dense, cruel air through the ridges of my throat my lips blister and crack and bloom the color of fresh poppies breaking through dirt with roots still tangled around my tongue I am singing the same songs of revival that my ancestors did when they tasted the skins of elusive fruits and carried them across the land— named them for who they were in lives left behind.
r i a h
Dreadlocks Dreadlocks are commonly associated with Rastafarian culture and religion which is known for its followers vowing to not cut their hair. Rastafari was a political and religious movement that began in Jamaica in the 1930s. With a vow to not cut their hair, followers found it much easier to twist their hair into dreadlocks to keep it manageable and out of their faces. At the time, Jamaica was predominantly Black and believers of Rastafari were of the same demographic. For years, others left the style to Black culture because dreadlocks were seen as unprofessional and “messy.� Now, several other cultures have adopted the style as their own, but they are viewed as fashion forward and brave.
Cornrows
written by Madisen Miles There are certain hairstyles specific to textured hair and originating from Black culture. Despite this, these styles are often culturally appropriated and their history is unknown by those making use of them. The history of dreadlocks, cornrows and naturally kinky/curly hair is a particularly painful story in itself and that is not something often thought about in our modern world. While this only scrapes the surface of ways that Black people style their textured hair, these styles along with many others have been culturally appropriated by white people, particularly in the last decade.
Cornrows are one hairstyle specific to Black culture that were not only practical, but also symbolic when they were used in the slave community in the United States. Symbolically, cornrows resembled the cornfields that those wearing the hairstyle typically worked in. Further down the road, after the abolishment of slavery, cornrows served as a reminder of the work of their ancestors. In terms of practicality, cornrows were best for long days in the heat while working, simply because the hairstyle would keep hair out of their faces and off of their necks. Even today, the style is still popular, but for more practical purposes such as its use in weaves and sew-in hairstyles.
Emancipation Although slaves were legally emancipated in 1863, this did not mean that the race was respected or viewed as equal. Because of this, African Americans, typically women, did everything that they could possibly do to smooth out their hair. To aid in this, Madam C.J. Walker created a line of products that essentially would chemically alter the curl pattern of someone’s hair. Walker is actually recorded as the first self-made millionaire in the United States.
Natural hair The resurgence of letting natural hair run free was a movement in its own as the Civil Rights era developed. Wearing hair naturally curly was essentially activism itself because it allowed Black people to show that they would not be conforming to European and white culture. Unsurprisingly, this movement was met with backlash and ultimately deemed as unprofessional. The exact reason as to why it is viewed as such is uncertain, but it is likely because it is viewed as unkempt by other cultures.
So what’s the difference? When Black people wear these hairstyles, they are met with harsh repercussions. In the 1980s, Hyatt fired women who wore cornrows; in the 1990s, FedEx fired employees with dreadlocks; following integration, Black students were told their hairstyles were dress code violations – and there are cases of this still happening today. In 2014, the military changed guidelines that previously classified historically Black hairstyles as banned. When Kim Kardashian wore cornrows in 2018, she was met with praise and showered with compliments and said her new hairstyle was inspired by a white actress. This is the issue and frustration from the Black community, their culture is being picked and pulled apart with little-to-no knowledge of the deeply rooted and painful history behind the hairstyles. Although the Kardashian family was not the first to take advantage of historically Black hairstyles, they received the most attention and that is exactly what the frustration among the Black community is. White culture has appropriated these hairstyles for the sole purpose of seeking financial gain and social climb while Black culture wear the hairstyles in an effort to carry on a quickly fading and unappreciated history. It is frustrating because a white woman can walk into an interview wearing box braids with little to no hesitation while a Black woman will sit for hours deciding whether or not she should cut out her braids and straighten her curls so that she seems more “presentable.” So when Black culture seems possessive over hairstyles, understand that they know the history of the hairstyles that they are wearing and that they are making a daily effort to keep alive aspects of their culture that haven’t already been dominated and appropriated by the rest of the world.
What They Didn’t Teach You About The Black Panther Party Growing up, your history textbooks probably told you that George Washington Carver invented peanut butter, that Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream and that Malcolm X led a group of violent radicalists. written by Sydnee Miller Throughout history, the Black Panther Party, following the teachings of Malcolm X, has garnered a lot of criticism because they were a Black militancy group. They radically advocated for Black nationalism and the necessity of African Americans defending themselves. Black nationalism is a movement originally influenced by Marcus Garvey. Garvey founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League, and his advancement in Pan-African philosophy inspired a mass movement, known as Garveyism. Within this was the hope for unity and self-determination for African Americans which didn’t focus on integration, rather, the Black Panthers believed in the social, political and economic empowerment of Black people and their communities.
The Party has often been labeled as a party of violence and cruelty when in reality they were filled with love for humanity and the pursuit of equality and justice for everyone. Many people don’t have an opportunity to learn about them and all the amazing innovations they created for the Black community, so let’s highlight some key facts: 1. The Black Panthers were founded by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale in 1966 in Oakland, California. - Their goal with this party was to gain Black liberation by combating police brutality and uplifting Black communities. 2. Their uniforms were a blue shirt, black pants, leather jackets and a black beret on top of their natural afro hair. 3. Members advocated for self love. - They believed that Africans should love their “African Roots” – their curly hair, dark skin, large lips and all other aspects of themselves that they have been taught to hate. 4. The first step to equality would begin with acceptance of themselves. 5. They had branches and chapters in more than 27 states. - Within these states, they would create more than 60 community survival programs in the hopes of creating better communities for African Americans. 6. They’re the reason public schools offer breakfast in the morning. - BPP created the Free Breakfast For Children Program – the first and most famous of the party’s survival programs. Every day the BPP would make sure that children had a meal in the mornings before they went to class. By 1969, they had hundreds of breakfast programs across the country. 7. The BPP opened the People’s Free Medical Centers. - Here they would test for high blood pressure, lead poisoning, diabetes, tuberculosis and many other diseases and ailments. They also brought awareness and
testing for Sickle cell anemia, a deadly blood disease that mainly affects African Americans. Many African Americans were dying because they didn’t know they had this disease. This program helped bring awareness to the disease and pushed forward the move in finding a cure. 8. They started the Armed Citizen’s patrol. - This is where they would patrol their communities and monitor police brutality. This was one of their non-negotiable demands to end the harassment from police in Black communities. 9. The BPP started the Intercommunal Youth Institute that would eventually be named The Oakland Community School. - The school was created because BPP believed that schools weren’t adequately teaching the Black youth ways to survive life ahead of them. Classes would be held after their regular school in different churches, homes and storefronts. The Black Panther Party’s movement wasn’t easy, and it surely wasn’t clean, nice or peaceful, all of the time. Many people like to discredit certain activists and parties like Malcolm X and the Black Panthers, but to discredit them is to discredit an entire movement. It seems as though society doesn’t want to accept that accomplishments were made with violence. But their violence was caused by the violence thrown upon them. This isn’t saying that violence of any sort is right or wrong, but without the contribution of Black militancy groups, the civil rights movement wouldn’t have made the strides they accomplished then, and they certainly wouldn’t be making them now.
June 7, 2020
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania photographed by Kasey Lettrich
Mike Brown died on my fourteenth birthday. The news headlines, the videos, the pictures of Ferguson. That was when I remembered, I am black. I am Sandra Bland. I am Eric Garner. I am Tamir Rice. I am Treyvon Martin. I am a part of something much bigger than myself. I grew up outnumbered. I was told I could be anything, But I never saw myself in anything. In my hometown, I never had a teacher of color, I had four other classmates of color. Four out of one hundred seventy. Where I’m from, Black girls don’t get boyfriends, Unless they’re other Black guys. Where I’m from Black girls aren’t pretty, Unless they straighten their hair. Where I’m from Black girls are too masculine, Unless they have a ‘fat ass’, Where I’m from Black girls aren’t people, They’re characters to mock and laugh at. A modern day ‘Mammy,’ or ‘Aunt Jemima’. My grandparents are white. My parents are white. My siblings are white. When my mom told my grandmother she was seeing a Black man My grandmother responded, ‘Baby, it’s like cows and chickens, they just don’t mix.’ They just don’t mix. And they didn’t. My father has nineteen other children. My mother has a confederate flag keychain, My neighbors are members of the Ku Klux Klan, My grandfather told me black people just needed to ‘act more civilized’. I would walk down the halls of my high school, I would walk down the streets of my hometown And someone would call me a nigger. I am Black. But I never saw it in me, Not until they told me. Why I don’t look like my mother, Why I don’t look like my brothers, Why the only man I did look like Walked out on me.
Why I had to keep it all to myself, Because no one would understand. A woman once asked me what I considered myself to be, White or Black? And I chose one. I learned to answer stupid questions. I learned to cater to certain stereotypes. I learned how to ‘take a joke.’ I learned how to keep my mouth shut. I learned how to bite my tongue. Just so I wouldn’t sound like another mad Black woman. You know which one I’m talking about. The dark woman with the big lips and wide hips, The dark woman who shouts and swears at any inconvenience, The dark woman who bobs her head everytime she speaks, The dark woman with the matted weave, The dark woman with the permanent resting bitch face, The dark woman I was expected to be. When I saw Mike Brown’s body hit the concrete, When I saw Sandra Bland’s fixed mugshot, When I saw Eric Garner in a choke hold, When I saw Tamir Rice holding a toy gun, When I saw Treyvon Martin’s Arizona bottle and a bag of skittles, I could not keep my mouth shut. My people are dying, My people are not just dying, My people are being murdered, My people are not just being murdered, My people are being exiled. So when I raise my voice about it, When I bob my head and throw my hands to my hips, When I tell you yes, I am tall but no I don’t play basketball, When I tell you my father has never been to jail, When I tell you I don’t even like kool aid, When I tell you no, I don’t know your other Black friend, When I don’t let you touch my hair, When I don’t let you say the n word, When I throw up my fist instead of my hands, Just know, I am not another mad Black woman, I am the mad Black woman And I will never be silenced again.
The Mad Black Woman, Jalyn Lamp
When Hollywood isn’t ‘Hollywood’: Growing Up a Young Black Actress
written by Adam Payne
Netflix just pumped out the latest miniseries by producing powerhouse Ryan Murphy– aptly titled “Hollywood”. In its seven-episode run, [SPOILER AHEAD] Murphy paints a Tinseltown plopped in the midst of Hollywood’s post-war golden age, but in this rewritten history, the tides of equality on film shifts much earlier. In this world we may never get to #OscarsSoWhite in 2015, and we certainly wouldn’t find Halle Berry’s 2008 Oscar win so moving and overdue, because in Murphy’s “Hollywood” the first Black actress to win the Academy Award would be in the 1940s. And thus, everything afterwards in Hollywood was allowed to change. Yet our sad reality is, this is simply a piece of fiction. And what remains today is an actor and Hollywood landscape forever indebted to a game of catch-up in the name of diversity. Two young Black women about to graduate from West Virginia University’s School of Theatre & Dance, Jasmine Evans and Sydnee Miller, recount their personal experience growing up Black performers and how that has shaped and impacted them as they get ready to graduate and venture into the real Hollywood. They spoke with Mirage Magazine’s Adam Payne about their experiences. Responses have been edited for clarity.
How would you describe growing up in theatre as a Black woman? Sydnee: Hard. It’s hard. Jasmine: It is definitely hard. You’re put into a box of a certain look. Especially for me, I have been plus-sized all my life, so when they look at me they’re like, “That can be the sassy side character.” Roles are written for a lot of Black people to be funny– if you aren’t funny, you’re being sassy or annoying and just fall into a stereotype sometimes. Sydnee: Growing up for me, I didn’t even have shows that had roles for Black characters. I would be pushed to the back. I was immediately set to the side because I was Black. We did a lot of family-related shows and I am not one bit going to be considered for a family-related show even though people just don’t want to accept there are blended families. Sydnee is speaking to the fact that growing up in West Virginia, and now continuing onward to West Virginia University to pursue acting, when a show involves a family and the casting pool is primarily white, oftentimes she thinks the Black actress won’t be considered at all so that the “family can look alike.” The pair continued onward in describing the often disheartening mentality that can accompany casting pools that lack diversity by feeling like they were cast in a role for “diversity’s sake” rather than considered for a larger role they were qualified for. Jasmine defined that feeling in saying it often “feels like I was being thrown in there for some spice,” which Sydnee then echoed the sentiment in saying that when auditioning for anything that is a reality and a mindset she has to endure.
Have you ever had a director or Why do you think Hollywood still has castmate do something you Felt was a diversity problem in 2020? racist? Sydnee: I had someone that just had to have me in her piece because I was Black. She sOoOo desperately needed me. Then later on, during the process this b*tch [in regards to how Sydnee’s character should be acting] said, “What if he wants to do weird, kinky slave stuff with you.” Then later on, she thought she hadn’t said anything offensive. Jasmine: I grew up in the deep south, South Carolina, and I went natural [hair] in high school. And my director goes, “I just don’t see what we can do with your hair, can you flatten it?” And I was like “No, no, I don’t want to put heat on it, heat damages-” and they look me in my eyes and go, “Well, it just looks a little ghetto….It’s gonna look weird if everyone else has nice hair, and yours is doing that.” And I was like, “Doing what? Being in its natural state?” The director ended up getting fired and I wore my natural hair on stage. The women went on to describe the way these racist tendencies can appear more subtly yet are still inherent in the theatre, such as ballet flats for Black performers having to be painted over with foundation to be the correct skin tone. Or, in Sydnee’s experience an order of group costumes coming with nude fabric built in, but all them the same shade of white – taking nearly the whole rehearsal process to fix. “I was forgotten. We’re at [the final week of rehearsal] and I’m like this still doesn’t match,” Sydnee said.
Jasmine: It’s going to take a while to miraculously be like, “Oh! Inclusion!” because it is so embedded in our minds – even back to the golden age of film what the ideal “movie star” looks like. You have all these gorgeous blondes and pin-ups from that era, and now they would still rather see Margot Robbie than a Lupita. Both are very talented, I am not going to pit women against each other, but that’s what people are used to seeing on screen. I remember middle-school-me seeing “The Princess and the Frog” and thinking, “I could be a princess too.” Jasmine then, supported by Sydnee, highlighted something that was also touched on in the “Hollywood” series: the story of Hattie McDaniel. She historically was the first Black person to win an Oscar for her supporting role of ‘Mammy’ in “Gone With the Wind”. Yet, what is even more notable about this win, and what juxtaposes our reality with the fantasy capsuled in “Hollywood,” is the fact that McDaniel wasn’t even allowed to attend the ceremony that she would receive the historic award because it was held in a whites-only theater.
How has going to a university where the casting pool is primarily white aFFected you both in being cast and selecting shows to direct? Jasmine: For directing, honestly for me, it is who is best for the role. Unless it tells me specifically this role has to be white because of this or Middle Eastern because of this. A lot of times it may end up a white family or an interracial relationship, but that’s just our pool here!
Sydnee: It’s just really tiring to see a Black character, and then the entire time is that character talking about their race. I think directors need to not be afraid of having something different that might piss people off. Like my small home theatre doing “Jesus Christ Superstar” and Jesus was Black and the community lost their minds. I think that was really big of my theatre to do that and I think other places need to just bite the bullet and do it.
Both then spoke of ways that Black character descriptions in plays often over-highlight the character’s “Blackness” limiting them to Sydnee: I think getting cast wise, I think the fact that I was Milo [the lead role in the 2019 production stereotypes. Then, there is also the added frustration with the way Black characters are often of “The Phantom Tollbooth”] was something that written as the funny sidekick or the best friend was genuinely shocking but really cool – to have a lead be a Black person, which you don’t see super more than they would be the love interest. The general consensus was clear that this issue is often. Going into auditions I usually don’t get my hopes up for bigger parts if it is family-related. I just deeper than any one vehicle for racist tendencies. Rather, this is something that stems into casting, don’t get my hopes anymore, and then there is playwriting, characterization, costuming, show just that fear, “Am I gonna be in this because they selection and beyond. needed someone brown?”.
Growing up in the theatre world, what steps do you think we need to take to become more inclusive? Jasmine: I think it’s hard to just say what needs to be done because you also have to consider where people are. I am sure someone in California has way different theatre than how we are here. So many directors are honed in on realism and “what looks good to the eye, and visually on stage,” not taking into account you aren’t always going to have a cohesive-looking family. We’re all pretending! None of us are actually related! It’s okay to have two white parents that have me. It also needs to start with teaching kids a lot more Black playwrights.
Growing up in the acting field as young Black and brown women is clearly something that still in 2020 is a challenge, and the steps we all can take as a community are vast if we want to make our Hollywood a little more like “Hollywood”.
Black boy, Black boy written by RaJon Staunton
I feel most colored when I am thrown against a stark white background. - Zora Neale Hurston Black boy as something thrown against the landscape the grass slurps him down slow draws him in Black boy as black paint on the walls suddenly he is only as Black as who he is assigned to read Black boy becomes a classroom explains how it’s always been how we only sleep under the dirt and everyone thinks it’s a metaphor for fragrant iris-wrapped death Black boy doesn’t say home doesn’t call out to what he can’t see doesn’t try to manufacture warmth in the wintertime Black boy sees his skin against the snow wonders how anyone before him could even think to try it Black boy always running around thinking he’s found home buried under black dust smothered by a false sensibility Black boy is Black until he can’t be Black boy runs from the ground that raised him tries not to trip over his own tattered shoelaces tries not to fall back into family traditions this cycle of being planted in the ground Black boy sees himself in everyone wants to break the glass wants to become something dirty and new Black wants to pull up the grass at his feet show them how to raise the ground that birthed them Black boy thinks he knows where he came from traces cracks in the sidewalk to find it gets lost every time.
A brief history written by Catherine Wylie, Emily Robinson, Savanna Shriver and Kasey Lettrich
Much of what we hear about human rights movements are on a massive, national scale, like the CNN and NBC coverage of the current Black Lives Matter movement or the 250,000 people who came from all over America to attend the March on Washington during the Civil Rights Movement. While this coverage is important and the reason that change occurs when it needs to, it’s essential to remember that these massive movements all started somewhere, with one person; one event. Because of this national coverage, the movements that we remember are ones that reached that level: the #MeToo movement, the Black Lives Matter movement, the Civil Rights Movement, etc. But, what about the movements that caused extensive change but didn’t reach national coverage? West Virginia has a rich history of movements that go unnoticed, beginning with the Battle of Blair Mountain in 1921. This battle was the largest labor uprising in American history, but if you’re not from West Virginia you may not have heard of it. The movement brought awareness to the dangerous working conditions in West Virginia coal mines and, in the long term, created a much larger movement to strengthen labor laws in other industries and encouraged many of the deals passed during the great depression of the 1930s. In August of 1958, the Congress of Racial Equality launched a sit-in movement in Charleston, West Virginia, where people, all across town, refused to
leave the lunch counter of several “whites only” diners where, prior to this movement, Black Americans could only order takeout and weren’t allowed to sit down and eat. This was two years before the nationally-known “Greensboro Four” sat down at the “whites only” lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, and refused to leave until they were served. From the start of America, it’s the brave Americans who fight back against injustices that have pushed our country forward. The U.S. has been ruled by white, male oppressors since Christopher Columbus ‘sailed the ocean blue.’ While we can’t change what our ancestors have done, we can ensure that nothing like it will ever happen again. The important thing to remember with the small, local rallies is that each of these movements opened up a conversation that led to change. Because of the Battle of Blair Mountain, labor laws became stricter nationwide; because of the Charleston sit-ins, people of color could eat inside a diner. Along the way, several small events have led to the nationally-known movements we remember today, and because of this, women got the right to vote, segregation was abolished, West Virginia teachers earned a bit more money, sexual assault victims were offered justice and protection, people of color could vote in America, and today, police reforms are allowing Black people to stop living in fear of injustice.
Civil Rights Movement: A Timeline of Events Freedom? 1865-1870s
In 1865, The Emancipation Proclamation, which became the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, went into effect and officially outlawed slavery. As the U.S. rolled out of the Civil War and into Reconstruction, the 14th and 15th Amendments went into effect. The 14th Amendment gave Black people equal protection under the law, and the 15th gave Black men the right to vote. Despite the abolishment of slavery and the efforts to give Black people more of an “equal” playing field, many white Americans were unhappy with these changes. The South quickly erased any progress made towards equality by establishing Jim Crow laws in the 1870s. These local and state laws enforced the legal segregation of white and Black citizens. Black people weren’t allowed to use the same public facilities, live in the same towns or go to the same schools as white people. The laws also made interracial marriage illegal and made it practically impossible for Black people to vote by adding poll taxes and literacy tests. While the states in the North didn’t adopt Jim Crow laws, they weren’t innocent. Black people still experienced discrimination in the workplace and when trying to buy a home or get an education – things that are still ingrained in our society today.
The Events that Fueled the Movement There is no clear start to the civil rights movement. It is more of a series of events that lead to its beginnings, events that brought much-needed attention to the struggles that Black people faced in America, and made people realize enough is enough.
1955 While the struggles started long before this time, the events that opened eyes and made the movement what we know today, started in August 1955 when a Black 14-year-old named Emmett Till was brutally murdered in Mississippi for allegedly flirting with a white woman. When his corpse was found in the Tallahatchie River it was so disfigured that he could only be identified by an initialed ring. Authorities wanted the body buried as quickly as possible, but Till’s mother demanded it be sent back to their home in Chicago. His mother decided to have an open-casket funeral to show everyone the truth about her son and his racist murderers. Jet magazine published a photo of
Till’s corpse, and his story was soon picked up by mainstream media. Till’s murderers were found “not guilty” by an all-white jury. That same year Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white man. Her arrest and fine led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which lasted 381 days, sustained with organized carpools and Black taxi drivers only charging 10 cents for Black riders – the same price as the bus fee. After the long, peaceful protesting, the Supreme Court finally ruled in 1956 that segregated seating on buses was unconstitutional. The boycott made Parks the “mother of the modern-day civil rights movement” and set the scene for new protests and upcoming leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. Following the bus boycott, sixty Black pastors and civil rights leaders, including King, met in Atlanta, Georgia, to coordinate nonviolent protests to fight racial discrimination and segregation.
Fighting for Rights 1957
In September 1957, nine Black students enrolled at the all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. The students were recruited by Daisy Bates, the president of the Arkansas National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), to test the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme court ruling in 1954, which declared that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. Weeks before the students’ first day, they were put through intensive counseling to guide them on what to expect and how to react to hostile situations. When the students arrived for the first day of school, the Arkansas National Guard and a crowd of angry white students and adults were the first things they saw. The National Guard, ordered by Governor Orval Faubus, prevented the students from entering the school. Faubus claimed this was for the protection of the Black students. A couple of weeks after the first attempt, federal judge Ronald Davies and President Dwight Eisenhower worked towards having the National Guard removed. Eisenhower ordered federal troops to escort the nine students into the school past more than 1,000 white protesters, allowing the students to finally attend their first full day of classes. During their time at the school, Faubus still expressed his wish to have them removed; one student was beaten and had acid thrown at her face; one was pushed down a flight of stairs and one student’s mother was fired from her
job with the state when she refused to remove her daughter from the school. These students became known as the “Little Rock Nine” and their efforts fueled protests on both sides of the desegregation issue. The Little Rock Nine: Minnijean Brown, Elizabeth Eckford, Ernest Green, Thelma Mothershed, Melba Patillo, Gloria Ray, Terrence Roberts, Jefferson Thomas and Carlotta Walls. In the same month of Little Rock Nine, President Eisenhower wanted to show continued commitment to the civil rights movement. He not only worked towards getting these students into the school but also pressured Congress to consider new civil rights legislation. This led to the Civil Rights Act of 1957, the first major civil rights legislation since Reconstruction. The law allowed federal prosecution of anyone who tried to prevent someone from voting and created a commission to investigate voter fraud. 1960 On February 1, 1960, four Black college students in Greensboro, North Carolina, refused to leave a Woolworth’s “whites only” lunch counter without being served. Later known as the Greensboro Four, they inspired many others to do similar “sit-ins” throughout the city and in other states. The Greensboro Four: Ezell Blair Jr., David Richmond, Franklin McCain and Joseph McNeil. On November 14, 1960, Ruby Bridges, a six-year-old Black girl, was escorted by four armed federal marshals to William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans. She was the first student to integrate the school, with only one teacher willing to accept her as their student.
1961 A group of Black and white activists called the Freedom Riders, took bus trips throughout the South to protest segregation in bus terminals. They attempted to use “whites only” restrooms and lunch counters. The original group of Freedom Riders had 13 people that left Washington, D.C.,
with the plan to reach New Orleans, Louisiana. The group drew little public notice until they reached South Carolina, where the first violent attack on them took place. The group split between two buses from there. When one of their buses arrived in Anniston, Alabama, a mob of 200 white people surrounded the bus, causing the driver to pass the station without stopping. The mob followed the bus, and when the tires of the bus blew out, someone threw a bomb onto the bus. The Freedom Riders escaped the bus but were beaten by the members of the mob. When the other bus arrived at Birmingham, Alabama, the group was also beaten by a white mob with metal pipes. The Birmingham Public Safety Commissioner Bull Connor stated that although we knew the Freedom Riders were arriving, he posted no police protection at the bus station because it was Mother’s Day. Following these events, Martin Luther King Jr. led a service at the First Baptist Church in Montgomery in support of the Freedom Riders. A riot formed outside of the church and King called Robert Kennedy for protection. Federal marshals dispersed the white mob with teargas. Martial law was declared in the city and the National Guard was dispatched to restore order. The Freedom Riders & Key Supporters: Ralph Abernathy, Catherine Burks-Brooks, Stokely Carmichael, Benjamin Elton Cox, Glenda Gaither Davis, Rabbi Israel “Si” Dresner, James Farmer, William Harbour, Genevieve Hughes Houghton, Pauline Knight-Ofusu, Bernard Lafayette, James Lawson, Frederick Leonard, John Lewis, Ivor “Jerry” Moore, Maw Francis Moultrie, Joan Trumpauer Mulholland, Ernst “Rip” Patton Jr., James Peck, Joseph Perkins, Charles Person, Hank Thomas, C.T. Vivian and Jim Zwerg.
1963 On August 28, 1963, 250,000 people took part in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. This was when Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I Have A Dream” speech which was scheduled to be four minutes long, but he ended up speaking for 16 minutes. He went away from his prepared notes after gospel star Mahalia Jackson stood behind him yelling “Tell ‘em about the dream, Martin,
tell ‘em about the dream!” This launched him into the most famous part of his speech, “And so even though we face difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream.” On September 15, a bomb at 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, killed four young girls and injured several others fueling an angry protest. The four girls: Addie Mae Collins (14), Cynthia Wesley (14), Carole Robertson (14) and Carol Denise McNair (11). 1965 On February 21, 1965, Malcolm X was assassinated during a rally by a member of the Nation of Islam. Malcolm X had a brutal childhood and was taken from his family by welfare caseworkers, dropped out of school in high school, and by the age of 21, was arrested for a burglary conviction. In prison, he learned about the teachings of Elijah Muhammad, the leader of the Nation of Islam. They advocated Black nationalism and racial separatism and condemned Americans of European descent as immoral “devils.” Malcolm then took the last name “X” to symbolize his stolen African identity and when released from prison, became an effective minister of the Nation of Islam in Harlem, New York. In the early 1960s, he developed a more outspoken philosophy and was soon suspended from the Nation of Islam because he was found to be “too powerful.” Months later, Malcolm formally left the organization and made a pilgrimage to Mecca. The pilgrimage made him “reappraise the white man,” and he decided to embrace a more humanistic approach to fight oppression. When he returned to America in June of 1964, he founded the Organization of Afro-American Unity, which advocated Black identity and held that racism, not the white race, was the greatest foe of Black people. His new movement and more moderate philosophy became influential in the civil rights movement. On March 7, 1965, 600 civil rights marchers taking part in the Selma to Montgomery March in protest of Black voter suppression were blocked and brutally attacked by local police. This event became known as Bloody Sunday. Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders successfully fought in court for their right to march, so two more
marches were led and they reached Montgomery on March 25. On August 6, 1965, President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to prevent the use of literacy tests as a voting requirement and allowed federal examiners to review voter qualifications and federal observers to monitor polling places.
1968 On April 4, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on the balcony of his hotel room in Memphis, Tennessee. King is known for being an active figure in the civil rights movement through his speeches and nonviolent protests. He was also known for publicly speaking out against the Vietnam War and working to form a coalition of poor Americans to address issues of poverty and unemployment. His assassination sparked rioting, burning and looting in more than 100 cities. On April 11, 1968, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Fair Housing Act, which prohibited discrimination concerning the sale, rental and financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin or sex. President Johnson called on Congress to speedily pass the civil rights legislation due to King’s death and the rioting that followed.
Today’s Black Lives Matter Protests Compared to the Civil Rights Movement: Some are calling the Black Lives Matter movement today’s version of the civil rights movement. For some people, this is a hard pill to swallow. A lot of white people don’t want to open their eyes to the amount of racism that still happens in our country and don’t understand the need for another movement. When researching this topic and discussing it with others, there are a lot of “racism was more openly practiced back then” or “the social divides were deeper back then” claims. Okay? But that doesn’t mean racism doesn’t still exist. While the civil rights movement was more about ending segregation and securing the rights of Black voters and the BLM movement is more about ending police brutality against Black people, both movements are about fighting the discrimination of Black people. If you look close enough, you can see how history is repeating itself. Many comparisons can be made between the two movements. One similarity being Trayvon Martin George Floyd and Emmett Till, how both of their unjust and brutal deaths kickstarted movements. Another being the rioting and looting that took place after Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination and the same kind of looting happening today. Both happened because activists are frustrated with how the nonviolent and peaceful protests aren’t getting through to others. Or, we can compare Bloody Sunday and what is happening at today’s marches, with police attacking those who are peacefully protesting. Looking into the media’s role during both movements is an interesting comparison as well. Kevin Gaines, the University of Virginia’s inaugural Julian Bond Professor of Civil Rights and Social Justice, discussed how in the 1960s the mainstream media was an ambiguous ally of the civil rights movement. It would broadcast images of heavy-handed police tactics and would bring awareness to the protest, but it would also vilify Martin Luther King Jr. and sensationalize the views of Malcolm X. It seems that the media is the same way today, but everything moves at a much faster rate. While social media can be a great tool to share information, bring awareness to certain causes and get in touch with others, it is also an easy place for fake news spread. In one click a video or status can post, and how the poster perceives that content they are about to post is all up to them. It’s important for us to remember how easily things can be twisted on social media, and even in popular news outlets.
Civil Rights Activists You Didn’t Learn About: Claudette Colvin: Nine months before Rosa Parks was arrested, Colvin was arrested for the same exact act. Black leaders prepared to protest until they learned that the 15-year-old was pregnant. They deemed her an inappropriate symbol for their cause. Nannie Helen Burroughs: After being denied a teaching job for being “too dark,” Burroughs created the National Training School for Women and Girls in 1909. It was a trade school for Black high school and college-aged girls that integrated themes of racial pride and community activism into its curriculums. Dorothy Height: Height was one of the leaders behind the March on Washington. She worked for the rights of the Black community and for women. She focused on political mobilization and giving a voice to women who were excluded from getting involved in politics. She helped create the National Women’s Political Caucus and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994. Pauli Murray: Murray was the first Black female Episcopal priest and California’s first Black deputy attorney general. She was known for bringing light on the disproportionate effect racial discrimination had on women of color. Branch Rickey: Rickey worked towards ending sports segregation. He broke Major League Baseball’s long-standing race barrier by signing Jackie Robinson to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
#MeToo Movement
Then, in October 2017, actor Alyssa Milano tweeted, “If you’ve been sexually harassed or assaulted write ‘me too’ as a reply to this tweet,” as part of her sexual abuse report against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. Within a day, half a million people responded, including other celebrities like Lady Gaga, Viola Davis and Javier Munoz. The number of responses quickly reached 1.7 million, before anyone stopped counting.
administration to investigate hundreds of schools for inadequate sexual assault responses. By December 2019, women made up more than half of the working class in the U.S., according to TIME. This has influenced more companies to institute family leave policies. Investment in diversity and inclusion programs has skyrocketed. From October to December 2017, calls to the U.S. crisis hotline: Rape, Abuse & Incest Nation Network rose by 23 percent compared to the same time in 2016, according to BBC. Speak to Equity, the British actors’ union, with 43,000 members, has started asking people who have been in the business for a long time or who are well-known to, “keep an eye out,” for sexual harassment, since they will not have to worry about not being worked with in the future, said soon-to-be president, Maureen Beattie. Sian Brooke, who studies gender and sexism online at the Oxford Internet Institute said one of the most powerful takeaways from #MeToo was that men are often the victims of sexual violence.
“Ashley Judd, the actor and activist, was perhaps the #MeToo movement’s specific butterfly. Her willingness to be named alleging sexual harassment by Harvey Weinstein, as reported by The New York Times, followed swiftly by named allegations from others against him there and in The New Yorker, produced the butterfly effect that is now the mass kaleidoscopic movement known as #MeToo, transnational in scope and showing no signs of slowing,” according to The Atlantic.
According to The Marshal Parthenon, West Virginia, Senate Bills 36, which passed both houses and 39, which passed the Senate, but not the House, help survivors by making their rights clearer and ensuring that proper protocol of rape kits will be used. These bills, “both positively address survivors’ rights and access to health care, would have created additional support for survivors, as well as amend and revise the W.Va. Sexual Assault Victims’ Bill of Rights,” said Rachel Byrne for the Charleston Gazette-Mail.
From the ‘Me Too’ Movement, many women and men have felt more comfortable sharing their sexual assault stories and there has been a significant amount of change. Since the movement started, more assailants have been held accountable. For example, Harvey Weinstein is serving 23 years in prison after more than 100 women testified that he sexually assaulted them. In 2017, his wife, Georgina Chapman divorced him and in 2019, “Untouchable,” a documentary about him and the women he assaulted was released.
While the ‘Me Too,’ Movement has positively impacted many survivors’ and women’s lives, there is still a way to go. “The overall gender wage gap remains stuck at about 81 percent - and just 75 percent for Black and Hispanic women. Women account for just 7.4 percent of Fortune 500 CEO’s, even though they have made up the majority of college graduates for decades,” according to CNBC. The confirmation of Brett Kavanagh into the Supreme Court despite Christine Blasey Ford stating that she was “100 percent” sure that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her, set the movement back. “The #MeToo moment built on decades of collective work against sexual abuse, including the professor Anita Hill’s foundational testimony in 1991 that Clarence Thomas, nominated and also confirmed to the Supreme Court, had sexually harassed her years before,” according to The Atlantic.
The ‘Me Too’ Movement was founded in 2006 by civil-rights advocate Tarana Burke. The purpose of the movement is to, “help survivors of sexual violence, particularly Black women and girls, and other young women of color from low wealth communities, find pathways to healing,” according to the organization’s website. In less than six months, an essential conversation about sexual abuse had been launched into a national conversation.
The movement in the United States also inspired other countries to follow. Hashtags in other countries include: #NiUnaMenos in Argentina, #BalanceTonPorc in France, #TheFirstTimeIGotHarassed in Egypt, #WithYou in Japan and #PremeiroAssedio in Brazil. These hashtags have helped, “Shift gender hierarchy’s tectonic plates,” according to The Atlantic. But changing the dialogue and holding people accountable weren’t the only ways the ‘Me Too’ Movement helped survivors. The movement helped inspire survivors to organize, which led to the Obama
The ‘Me Too’ Movement and The Black Lives Matter Movement are both movements that were founded to help people and were founded by Black women. Black Lives Matter was co-founded by Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi.
There are also counter-movements against the ‘Me Too’ Movement and Black Lives Matter. For ‘Me Too,’ #HimToo has been created to discredit women, specifically, but anyone who is a sexual assault victim. According to The Wired, The #HimToo hashtag was created to discredit Christine Blasey Ford during Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation. For Black Lives Matter, there is All Lives Matter and Blue Lives Matter, which both exist to blatantly discredit the BLM movement. And there are alt-right and white supremacist organizations that are active around the nation, such as the Proud Boys and the KKK, which, in general, believe that the white race is the superior race and are rampant with anti-people of color and misogynistic rhetoric. Visit the Southern Poverty Law Center’s website to learn more about these and the many, many other hate groups. While there are people that complain that the ‘Me Too’ Movement “ruins lives,” the movement seems to be more accepted and less controversial than the BLM movement, which is ironic because the BLM movement is one of the largest in United States history, according to the New York Times. Women’s Marches advocate for the ‘Me Too’ Movement, but they also protest for LGBTQ+ and women’s rights in general. These marches have never been violent, but police presence does not escalate the situation. At Black Lives Matter marches, police have used tear gas and rubber bullets against peaceful protesters, journalists and medics. The ‘Me Too’ Movement has been around for nearly 15 years and will be around for years to come to help survivors of sexual assault. If you or someone you know needs access to help, you can find a library of resources around you by inputting your zip code on their website: https://metoomvmt.org/advocacy-resources-library/.
Black Lives Matter
The Black Lives Matter campaign was founded by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi in 2013 and was a direct response to the police killings of Black people following the death of Trayvon Martin. Martin was a young Black teenager who was shot by a police officer while walking to a friend’s house. Every year since the creation of this campaign, the United States has seen Black individuals killed as a result of police brutality. While the Black Lives Matter Movement has never fully vanished, it has come and gone in waves that are usually ignited by a Black individual being killed by an officer.
platforms with support from many using hashtags, such as #BlackLivesMatter, and sharing links to petitions and charities who are in support of the Black Lives Matter Movement and the Floyd family.
The most recent wave was induced by the rise and influence of social media, young people’s frustration with President Donald Trump and a recent police brutality incident involving the murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020. Floyd was being arrested for using a counterfeit $20 bill when officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for 8 minutes, cutting off his airway in front of a crowd and three other officers who simply stood by and watched as Floyd’s life was slowly lost. The incident was recorded by bystanders where Floyd can be heard saying, “I can’t breathe,” sparking protests that demanded change and quickly spread, first across the nation and then the world.
If we lived in a society with no First Amendment rights or ability to speak freely, it would be almost impossible for such a strong movement to exist. It is so important that we use them so that our voices are heard, and change can be made. Due to these rights, we are able to make a difference in hopes that this country can simply do better. Without them, the government would regulate everything and the citizens would not be able to have a say in anything that goes on. Essentially, this would mean that whoever is in office would have the power to dictate what happens. Without First Amendment rights, there would be no peaceful protests, no social media posts, no merchandise promoting the movement, no petitions and no press holding those in power accountable.
Since the murder of George Floyd, The Black Lives Matter movement has taken over social media
While social media gets a lot of credit for spreading awareness, it is the in-person peaceful protests that fill the streets with high emotion. The energy of the support for this movement is remarkable and the sights of the peaceful protests are breathtaking. The moments of silence are filled with feelings that are overwhelming and indescribable.
In the past, there have been Supreme Court Cases, boycotts and sit-in movements that were trying to accomplish total equality. While those fights of the past are still being fought today, these movements were still able to ensure change. As a result of these, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed. This act mandated the desegregation in public places, gave Black individuals equal voting rights and allowed the federal government to protect citizens against any discrimination including race, national origin, religion and/or sex. This was a great step forward for equality in society; however, it has been 56 years and racism is still rampant in our society today- from the very systems that run our country to our local communities. It is time these behaviors are halted. With the social media influence and rising activists, the Black Lives Matter Movement is capable of doing just that. While the world still has a long way to go until Black lives are truly treated equally, there are many small changes beginning to take place that will have a large impact on society. The first justice seen in the Floyd case was the firing of all four officers involved and criminal charges made against them. Chauvin was charged with second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, while the other three officers were charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Supporters of the cause were ecstatic about this success; however, they know there is still much more progress that needs to be made. In Louisville, Kentucky, Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old EMT, was shot eight times by officers in her own home. They were there to serve a search warrant in a narcotics investigation but did not knock or announce themselves before using force to enter the home. According to Taylor’s mom, the suspect they were looking for had already been arrested and the search should’ve been called off anyway. No arrests have been made in her case. Louisville residents and supporters from around the country have been marching in the city for more than 75 days. This has created a surge in police reforms across the country. NYC Mayor Bill Deblasio said he was going to shift funds from the NYPD to youth and social services on June 7. Democratic legislators have proposed the Justice in Policing Act of 2020 which consists of banning the use of chokeholds and forcing federal police officers to use body and dashboard cameras. Other changes that extend past police brutality are also taking place including the removal of confederate and imperialist statues around the world. This includes statues of Christopher Columbus in Richmond, Virginia, St. Paul, Minnesota. and Boston, Massachusetts. Some business leaders, including Reddit’s co-founder Alexis Ohanian, are stepping down in hopes to make way for more Black leaders. The entertainment industry is demonstrating changes with Paramount Network canceling the show “COPS” after 32 seasons. The Recording Academy is no longer using the word “urban” to describe music of Black origin by changing the award for “Best Urban Contemporary Album” to “Best Progressive R&B Album.” Even with the recent changes, there is still a long way to go in the fight for racial equality and the Black Lives Matter Movement is not slowing down anytime soon. If you want to get involved to help this movement, you can donate to the cause at many organizations including BlackLivesMatter.com and blackvisionsmn.org. If you would like to march with your local community in support of Black Lives Matter, information about local rallies can typically be found on social media. If you are able to, register to vote and use your vote to your advantage. The general election will take place this fall on November 3, 2020. Check your state’s government website for details regarding important deadlines and other critical voting information.
“...there is still a long way to go in the fight for racial equality and the Black Lives Matter Movement is not slowing down anytime soon.”
photographed by Maxwell Shavers
What did you say?
Debunking myths youve deFinitely heard beFore. written by Annika Godwin and Hunter Neel In any conversation concerning race, white privilege is bound to be mentioned. This societal advantage that favors white people over Black and brown people is pervasive in almost every aspect of life; most modern institutions and systems in America are founded upon this principle, and yet, it is not uncommon for white people to go on the defense and claim that white privilege doesn’t exist. This denial is rooted in not only a general misunderstanding, but is also founded on misconstrued myths and stereotypes about people of color. As a white person, it is my responsibility to acknowledge the privileges I am given because of the color of my skin. As white people, we must use these privileges to help debunk myths about race and white privilege. The next time you hear a family member, friend or acquaintance spout one of these myths below, have a conversation and help educate them. Education and understanding is a proven way to combat the inherent biases, stereotypes and racist ideologies within us all, and is ultimately the only way to truly grow as a nation. These myths have permeated for years in the minds of our family and friends, but to be a good ally to the Black and brown communities, we must stand up against those ideas. We’ve compiled the most common myths our friends and family say about race, and did the research for you, so the next time you’re at a family reunion or see your grandfather’s Facebook post, you’re prepared.
Myth: Students of color get free rides to college just because of their race. Even with race and ethnicity-specific scholarships, people of color are less likely to receive scholarships for college compared to their white peers. Caucasian students account for 72 percent of scholarships, while non-white students account for the other 28 percent, according to CollegeStats.
"As a white person, it is my responsibility to acknowledge the privileges I am given because oF the color oF my skin."
Myth: We dont need aFFirmative action anymore because the playing Field is level For everyone. This simply isn’t true. Black and Latinx students are still severely underrepresented at Ivy League and other private colleges compared to the nationwide percentage of Black and Latinx college-aged students. As we all know, those who graduate from these elite institutions have an upper hand in becoming politicians, CEOs and other influential figures in America. If the overwhelming majority of graduates from these universities are white, it disadvantages Black and brown communities against becoming these powerful leaders themselves. Learn more about this topic at The Education Trust.
Myth: Racism doesnt exist anymore; Black people got their rights with the Civil Rights Movement. Again, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Your perception of overt, deliberate acts of racism, such as segregation and lynchings, may have decreased, racism is still a fervent issue in the United States. Racism can appear in instances of hate crimes, but also come in the form of microaggressions and stereotypes. One study found that a white applicant is more likely to get called back for a job than a Black applicant with a “Black-sounding” name, despite both applicants having the same resume. Black people are more likely to be arrested than their white counterparts and are more likely to receive harsher jail sentences for similar crimes as well. This type of discrimination occurs in the healthcare field too. One study found that 67 percent of doctors have a bias against Black patients. This can be seen by the disproportionate deaths of pregnant Black women, as well as the biased belief that Black people simply feel less pain than white people. Just because you don’t experience racism first-hand, doesn’t mean that racism doesn’t exist.
Myth: More white people are killed by police than any other race. This saying is very common, especially as the discussions surrounding the Black Lives Matter Movement have become more frequent in recent months. Even President Trump has touted the saying in one of his briefings surrounding the BLM protests. Yes, more white people are killed annually by police, but Black people are affected disproportionately. Black people make up about 13 percent of the American population, and yet, they account for 28 percent of people killed by police. Black people are three times more likely to be shot by police than those who are white. This could be attributed to stereotypes against Black people, including being perceived as more violent or more likely to be a criminal. Cops are not immune to racial biases, and the implicit views in some impact how police officers interact with Black people. As white people in America, it’s easy to turn a blind eye and act like race issues don’t exist simply because they don’t affect us. It is that mindset that not only invalidates the experiences of Black and brown people in the United States but also directly harms those communities. It is our responsibility to be conscious of our own biases and hold our white peers accountable as well. It cannot be said enough that education and advocacy are direct actions that improve perceptions of these communities. Race is not always an easy topic for white people to discuss, but using our privilege to combat these myths is the least we can do for the Black and brown people who for centuries have been subjected to the racist systems created by our ancestors.
Ways you can use your privilege to help:
- Listen and amplify the voices of POC - Be more than “not racist,” but activlety anti-racist - Research to gain a better understanding of the systematic struggles POC endure - Sign petitions, text justice lines and call and email your representatives demanding change.
Growing Up Black: an open letter written by Madisen Miles
Growing up, it was difficult to grasp why people who looked just like me were tortured because of a trait about themselves that they were incapable of changing. It was even more difficult to understand why people who had skin a bit lighter than mine were treated with more respect than my brother and I. Elementary-school-me didn’t ask questions though, I just went on because that was the status quo. Sixth grade was the first time I was called the “N” word. I remember my mom being so angry, especially because it was an adult who had said it. I knew I was supposed to be angry and upset – I knew it was a derogatory word – but I didn’t really understand what it meant. So I let it go, perhaps not fully understanding I was allowing a grown woman to disrespect the skin that I loved. My first real Black History Month lesson happened in seventh grade. Up until that point, my teachers had taught us about Martin Luther King Jr. and other peaceful activists of the Civil Rights era, but now, as preteens, we were “mature enough” to hear about slavery, about the selling, beating and even murdering of people who looked like me. I remember the day I had my head down, reading along with my teacher, but I could feel the nervous glances being directed my way by my classmates. They were looking at me like I had been the one transported across the ocean in a slave ship, that I had been the one chained and whipped.
The summer between middle and high school opened my eyes to the assumptions adults made about me when they saw my skin color. My family was on summer vacation and my brother and I were each allowed to bring a friend, both of which were white. Our waitress came over once we had finished our meals and asked my brother and I with this pitied look on her face, “Are you two on a separate bill from everyone else?” She had assumed that my white parents and our friends were a family who had graciously brought the misfortunate Black children along with them. When I got to high school, my skin color remained the same and yet, somehow, my peers were much quicker to disqualify my “Blackness.” Since I was mixed, I wasn’t “actually” Black, according to my classmates, I was “the whitest person we know.” Apparently, my lack of Blackness in their eyes also meant it was okay to say the “N” word around me and not just say it, but use it casually as a greeting. It amazed me that the white society I was living in could take a word that was created to disparage an entire race of people and use it without a second thought. In September of 2016, my sophomore year in high school, I watched as riots broke out in Charlotte, North Carolina. Keith Lamont Scott, a 43-year-old Black man, had been shot and killed by a police officer and protestors filled the streets. I remember staying up all night watching the news coverage. Fox News showed Black and white people destroying property, setting fires and cops attempting to minimize the damage and hold back the crowds. In between shots of the streets, the coverage would cut back to the studio, where a white man and a Black man were sitting side by side. “They are doing what these type of people do,” the white man calmly said, referring to the Black protestors. These people. I felt like a generalization of my entire race. My mind spiraled. The older I have gotten, the more I have realized that I am always going to live in a world where people expect me to be a certain way because of the color of my skin. I am always going to live with the fear that when my brother gets in his car and drives somewhere, anywhere, he risks being pulled over because of the color of his skin. I am always going to wonder if one day my children will experience the same hatred that I have because of the color of their skin. Year after year I expect change and day after day I wake up to another Black man or woman being mercilessly murdered. Someone may have caught it on video, yet none of those at fault are reprimanded by the same system that is ironically supposed to be protecting us. No wonder we are outraged, disgusted and terrified among many other emotions. Until hate crime laws are established in each state, I will continue to contact representatives and call for justice in their cities and in this country. Until I can confidently walk into a job interview without code-switching or straightening out my curls so that my interviewer looks at me with more respect, I will continue to educate others. Until I can have a conversation with someone and not have to explain that this is a movement built on years of oppression and not a moment sparked by several murders, I will continue to say their names. Until Black lives matter, I will continue to stand proudly and unapologetically Black. This piece was originally published by HerCampus WVU, a collegiate publication lifting the voices of female writers, in February 2019, and has been updated for this publication.
Intersections: Where Black lives and Pride meet written by Joseph Lucey The fight for equal civil rights is a trail American citizens have been blazing for decades. The recent surge in attention due to the latest wave of the Black Lives Matter movements across the U.S. has led to the extraneous opinions of what the fight for equality looks like. Taking the nation’s focus like wildfire in June, Black Lives Matter Pride is a reminder of the progress queer people have made to write our existence into our shared human history. The lack of queer, historical knowledge has helped fuel the celebratory reputation Pride has today. Pride month is equal parts celebration and acknowledgment. 2020 has certainly served as a wake-up call for many members of the LGBTQ+ community. With the recent tragedies and unjust treatment of the Black community, it should be taken as a reminder that we, as white queer people, cannot erase the groundwork and continual support from Black LGBTQ+ individuals despite the countless injustices their community faces on a day-to-day basis. Pride is a celebration of widely unheard or “unwanted” viewpoints focused on giving these perspectives a platform to be shared. It is meant to educate, support, inspire, console and uplift others in the community who need it. Historically, the gay community is known to be very welcoming to any and all individuals regardless of the background, but this is most definitely not true. The gay community was completely a boys club for white men that looked down upon the Black and brown members of their own community, specifically, Black and brown trans women. Since then, we as queer people, have reclaimed what was once a culture deeply rooted in racism, sexism and classism by planting seeds of acceptance. The seeds our queer brothers/sisters planted before us helped our community to grow into a platform representative of unconditional love, communal support, diversity and inclusion. Looking back, The Stonewall Riots were not only a springboard for the gay rights movement, they were also an extremely pivotal moment in the visibility and acceptance of Black and brown queer individuals. Marsha P. (“Pay it No Mind”) Johnson was a Black trans activist known for being a ray of sunshine within the community and for throwing the first brick at the Stonewall Inn on June 27, 1969. The riots ensued due to continual mistreatment and brutality toward queer
people by members of the NYPD. Johnson’s legacy known today is solely due to the re-telling of her experiences from friends and queer chosen family. For many at the time, the bravery she exhibited by standing up to oppose the unjust legislation against queer people, racism within the LGBTQ+ community and work through the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (S.T.A.R.) with close friend/co-founder, Sylvia Rivera is revered and cherished by members of the LGBTQ+ community. It was one of the numerous examples of a completely marginalized perspective breaking barriers set up by those in power to silence them. This shared way of thinking has inspired so many members of the LGBTQ+ community and ultimately created the month of celebration that we know today as Pride Month.
“...you carry the responsibility of those who came before you, those of which have most likely experienced some sort of unjust treatment for you to express your true self as confidently and as safely as you can today.” With this being said, it is important to note that it was not only Black and brown members of the LGBTQ+ community that suffered brutality amongst the crowd at Stonewall that day. As members of a marginalized community, we as queer people can recognize the pain of feeling set aside from the majority, punished, abused or just straight-up stereotyped for being our authentic selves. Even if you have been lucky enough to not experience this type of treatment, you carry the responsibility of those who came before you, those of which have most likely experienced some sort of unjust treatment for you to express your true self as confidently and as safely as you can today. Also, as a queer person you may have heard someone say “no cops at pride.” This phrase is synonymous with ACAB, “all cops are bastards.” As we know, the NYPD incited the Stonewall Riots which sparked the fire we now know as pride month. Those targeted by the NYPD at the Stonewall Inn were LGBTQ+ individuals who stereotypically “presented queer,” but more importantly Black “queer presenting” or trans folk.
Statements like these come from a place of systemic oppression based on fear tactics. These fear tactics have been used to spread stereotypes amongst the general population about the oppressed to keep the mainstream mindset from deviating. What we offer collectively is perspective. A perspective that challenges these stereotypes about our communities due to the oppression we’ve endured. Speaking of, the fights we’ve endured were met with success because of the community created through the safe spaces birthed into existence thanks to the work of our Black and brown brothers and sisters. We are a family. We have shown up for one another in the face of adversity before, so why not now? Just because Pride hasn’t looked the way it usually has this year, doesn’t mean the flame has been extinguished. If anything, more fire has been added to the fight for basic human rights. As a cis, white male and a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I feel it is more than imperative for those with a perspective similar to mine to educate themselves on injustices happening around the world due to race, class, gender, sexual orientation, etc. One cannot reap the “benefits” and privileges most cis, white, queer people have today without understanding how your history influenced your current perspective. The LGBTQ+ community exists to provide support to others who need it; the very least we can do is understand our individual places within this microcosm of society. Without Black lives, there would be no Pride.
movies to watch
plays to read
tv shows to watch
artists to listen to
books to read
black owned businesses
“Just Mercy” “The PIeces I Am” “13th” “Sorry to Bother You”
“When They See Us” “Hollywood” Atlanta Blackish Pose
“Lot” by Bryan Washington “A Fortune for Your Disaster” by Hanif Abdurraqib “Paradise” by Toni Morrison “Heavy” by Kiese Laymon “The New Jim Crow” by Michelle Alexander
“Topdog/Underdog” by Suzan-Lori Parks “A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry “Gem of the Ocean” by August Wilson
Noname Sampha Chika Brooklyn M.A.G.S.
Legendary Rootz Splendid Rain Co. Lady Rose Specialty Teas Beauty Bakerie
Special thanks to: Dazia Miller Delia Feeney Nathan Lawer-Yolar Cherish Heard Shakana Heard Zazy Shipman All artists and contributors & the Mirage team
YOU CANNOT STAY SILENT ABOUT THINGS THAT MATTER. GEORGE FLOYD BREONNA TAYLOR ATATIANA JEFFERSON AURA ROSSER BOTHAM JEAN STEPHON CLARK PHILANDO CASTILLE ALTON STERLING FREDDIE GRAY TAMIR RICE GABRIELLA NEVAREZ AKAI GURLEY ERIC GARNER JANISHA FONVILLE JACOB BLAKE. click here to help. Names provided by Al Jazeera